Beck: End cruel farm practices

Sunday

May 18, 2014 at 12:36 AM

The industrial pork sector subjects pigs to many abuses, but the worst is its mass utilization of "gestation crates." Each crate is barely the size of the pig’s body and they can’t even turn around for nearly their entire lives. Nine state governments have banned this practice, as well as major food companies, like McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Burger King.I hope my state representatives – Rep. Chris Walsh and Sen. Karen Spilka – support H. 1456/S.741, which would ban this cruel confinement in Massachusetts. This modest bill would simply require that farm animals like pigs and calves not be so intensively confined that they can’t even turn around, or for in the case of egg-laying chickens, be able to spread their wings. There’s already an egg farm in Massachusetts that uses cruel cages (which houses a staggering 3,000 birds), and a pork producer in Massachusetts testified that they intend to use cruel pig gestation crates. Let’s put a stop to this now and pass the much-needed H. 1456/S.741.LAURA BECKFramingham